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CINEMA:
ACTRESSES
Sassy
Sirens
A new
generation of feisty women is breaking free from Bollywood's straitjacket
stereotypes and taking on substantial roles
By Anupama
Chopra
Sometime
during the making of Taal, Anil Kapoor narrated a script to his co-star
Aishwarya Rai. It was a love story between a rape victim and a righteous
man who stands by her. Those were different times. Pre-Hum Dil De Chuke
Sanam, Rai was a flop both at the box office and in the talent department.
Most of the industry and the audience considered her little more than
a plastic presence. Choosing a controversial role now could be crippling.
But Rai didn't hesitate for a minute. She said, "Fantastic, I'm doing
it," and completed the film in six months flat. Hamara Dil Aapke
Paas Hai (HDAPH) released two weeks ago.
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| Aishwarya
Rai agreed to play a rape victim even before she had given a hit. |
Glasnost
seems to have finally hit the Hindi film heroine. For decades, actresses
have been content to play the deified goddess-glamdoll. A cardboard creation
who wears minis and bustiers but stays resolutely virginal, sings four
songs, does two and a half dramatic scenes and then walks away happily
into the sunset. Not any more. After years of being mass-produced from
the same cookie-cutter, heroines are slowly shedding Bollywood's straitjacket
stereotypes. A new generation of educated, savvy and sassy women are demanding
better roles and often getting them. Encouraged by urban audiences and
refocused markets, heroines are taking risks and treading new ground.
Of course, the song-and-dance routine is in place and looks and dancing
abilities are still as critical as talent. But the old Bollywood rules
are being bent beyond recognition. "Heroines earlier were far more
conservative and image-conscious," says Anil Kapoor who has run the
gamut from sis-in-law Sridevi to Rani Mukherjee, "Today, there is
a new sensibility." Raj Kapoor's woman-in-white is virtually extinct.
"I'm
comfortable playing white, black, grey, orange, magenta," says Preity
Zinta, "anything, as long as the role excites me." What excites
Zinta? Her debut film was originally meant to be Kya Kehna, in which she
plays an unwed mother. When Kya Kehna got delayed, she opted to debut
with a 20-minute role in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se. An early scene had her
asking Shah Rukh Khan, "Are you a virgin?" Her unconventional
choices have been vindicated by the audience. Kya Kehna, which was marketed
primarily on Zinta, ran to packed houses earlier this year. And Zinta,
only four films old, is already in a position to be refusing 80 per cent
of the films that come her way. "I want to be part of good films,"
she says, "even if it means that I'm not the protagonist. I want
to do films that are real, informative and entertaining."
Rani Mukherjee
has similar ambitions. So while she continues to play a clothes horse
and sing songs in Switzerland, she also goes lip-to-lip with Kamal Haasan
in the off-beat Hey Ram. And recently, she reprised Natalie Portman's
role in the desi version of Luc Besson's Leon, the Professional. In Bicchoo,
she played the foul-mouthed, coarse daughter of a drug dealer. Swears
like chutiya rolled off her painted lips. The other, more colourful sister
and mother stuff was bleeped out by the censors. "I've passed the
stage of being the standard Hindi film heroine," she says. "I
am now looking for distinctive characters. I don't have any image that
I want to preserve. Actually, I don't want to be categorised at all."
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| Sushmita
Sen is a tough policewoman in Aghaaz |
In fact,
all the A-list actresses seem to be making a conscious effort to escape
branding. Sushmita Sen, who played a vixen to perfection in films like
Biwi No. 1 and Sirf Tum, is going for more serious turns. She plays a
policewoman in the forthcoming Aghaaz - The Beginning and has also signed
Meghna Gulzar's debut film. Honey Irani also wants her to play a role
in her debut venture-a buddy movie about two female cops. Earlier heroines
like Juhi Chawla steered clear of non-mainstream fare (even Madhuri Dixit
restricted herself only to a Prahaar and later Mrityudand). But Karisma
Kapoor, at the peak of career, is juggling David Dhawan with Shyam Benegal.
When Benegal offered her the title role in his forthcoming Zubeida, she
didn't pause. "When do we shoot?" she asked and Benegal is all
praise. "She is an absolute professional. Even if I want to complain,
I can't."
Meanwhile
Kalpana Lajmi is raving about her heroine, Raveena Tandon. In Lajmi's
Daman, Tandon, best known as the 'Mast Mast Cheez' is playing the victim
of marital rape. Not only does she enact harsh scenes with co-star Sayaji
Shinde, she also breaks Bollywood's hallowed rule and plays the mother
of an 18-year-old. A refreshing change from earlier times when even a
biggie like Yash Chopra preferred to alter the script rather than show
Sridevi as a mother in Chandni. Says Lajmi: "Raveena came to me and
said, 'I want to grow.' I was apprehensive. After all, it's not easy to
shed off mainstream acting styles. But she made the transition beautifully
and rose well above the script."
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The
Government should encash at least a part of its stake in LIC and GIC before
its too late, suggests INDIA TODAY associate Editor V. Shankar Aiyar
in 
